University researchers, faculty and staff are frequently contacted by colleagues and/or institutions that wish collaborate officially by signing an agreement with UCL. UCL’s policy is straightforward: signing an agreement makes sense only if it specifies the cooperation arrangements between the two participating institutions (for example: student exchange, thesis co-supervision, research funding, etc.). In other words, UCL is in principle not interested in signing agreements whose content is too general and/or imprecise.
Nevertheless, in a certain number of cases, signing a general agreement is a required first step toward developing substantive collaboration.
In order to respond appropriately to requests, the university offers three interuniversity agreement templates for use by university researchers, faculty and staff:
Other types of specific agreements exist:
- Student Exchange Agreements for the Erasmus+ programme or exchanges outside the European Union. The procedure is available at https://intranet.uclouvain.be/fr/myucl/administrations/adri/les-accords-de-mobilite.html .
- Joint Degree Agreements:
- Thesis co-supervision. See Valodoc Website
- Teacher training programmes. See http://www.uclouvain.be/167865.html
- Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s Degree. See https://intranet.uclouvain.be/fr/myucl/administrations/adri/masters-conjoints.html
Definition
A Memorandum of Understanding is a declaration through which a UCL entity and its partner announces their intention to collaborate in the field(s) of education (by exchanging professors, assistants or students), scientific research (by exchanging researchers or scientific information, or by developing joint research projects) and/or university management. Limited in duration, it serves to prepare the ground for concluding cooperation agreements in the longer term. It stems from the concern to ensure that the parties truly have the will and the means to achieve lasting mutual cooperation.
An Agreement is between parties committed to continuing and deepening their cooperation. There are two types of agreements:
- A Cooperation Agreement is in principle concluded with another university.
- A Specific Agreement is concluded by a university entity. It covers specific fields and/or establishes specific cooperation arrangements.
Procedure
- For the Memorandum of Understanding, the request is submitted by, at minimum, one UCL faculty member via the institute president or the dean to the pro-rector for international affairs. The request is accompanied by a brief written justification. If approved by the pro-rector, the rector signs it.
- For the Cooperation Agreement, the request is submitted by an institute president or a dean to the pro-rector for international affairs. The request is accompanied by a written justification. It is assessed by administrations "ad-hoc" des Services généraux, and if approved by the pro-rector, the rector signs it.
- For the Specific Agreement, the request is submitted by, at minimum, one UCL faculty member via the institute president or the dean to the pro-rector for international affairs. The request is accompanied by a written justification. It is assessed by administrations "ad-hoc" des Services généraux, and if approved by the pro-rector, the rector signs it.